My fandom is better than yours... yeah, right
A rant of sorts about fandoms in general ?
Some of you may know what is going on at the Torchwood fandom. The last season killed one of the most loved characters in the series and people is mad about it. Not only for that, but for the way series creator, Russell T Davies has been expressing about the fans (‘only 9 packets’, ‘hysterical women’, ‘go watch Supernatural’). But I’m not going to rant about that. I mean, I’m part of the campaign to bring back Ianto Jones sending coffee, letters, emails to Wales, and I’m very proud to be part of that, but this is not about that.
But what I want to complain about is the lack of respect between fandoms.
I’ve read somewhere some very sad critics towards Torchwood fandom. Like we fans were only a bunch of girls, that the fanfiction lacks of quality, that we are hysterical…
What I want to say is: RESPECT PEOPLE!
My most important fandom is Oz. I love the show, I love the peeps, I love the fanfiction, I love everything about it. But I also love the Torchwood fandom. But I go to each fandom with different expectations. I have to, one is an hyper realistic prison drama show, the other is a Sci Fi action one. There is no way you can’t compare both shows in a fair way.
Most of us have two or three fandoms. Some like some things I’m not inclined to. But that doesn’t mean I have any right to bash against that. Why it is that every fandom holds itself as better as every other? For example (*and I’m sorry to use you as an example sweetie*)
numenora loves LOTR. I like it, but is not my fandom. But nothing in the world gives me the right to attack her likes just because they are somewhat different than mine.
I don’t like ‘Twilight’, I find it way to far fetched from my conception of a vampire. That’s why I have not read any of the fanfiction. I guess there has to be some pretty good stories and some others that cracktastic! doesn’t begin to cover. AS IN ANY OTHER FANDOM. I know that the majority of that particular fandom is much younger than other fans in other fandoms, but that doesn’t mean that their fiction is bad.
We're a family, people, let's act like it. We should always act like the ambassador of our respective fandom, not get up on our soapbox preaching why our fandom is better than everybody else’s.
We come here, to our respective fandoms as a way to have some relief, distraction, escape of real life. So why we must bash against each other because we like different things? So yeah, some of us like RPS, some of us don’t. Some of us like bandom, some of us don’t. Some of us like slash, some of us don’t. So why would we have an elitist attitude against others? To compare the one to the other is as stupid as it would be for me read a ‘Torchwood’ fanfic expecting it to be similar or better in the same way as a ‘Oz’ fic would.
And that stupid misconception that older writers means better writing. I’ve read some pretty good pieces of people at least 6 years younger than me (and I'm 24) and even more that write way better than I do. And I don’t mean it because they write in English, a language that is certainly not my own, I mean it in Spanish (my mother tongue), because, yeah, there are fics in other languages.
Fandoms should be a place to be happier and have fun. A place where all that is wrong with the world can be discussed an criticized, simple to enjoy and dream.
ETA: 'cause michele659 made an excellent point and that acutually happen to me when I first came to Oz. I came to this fandom in December of 2007, more than 4 years after this particular show ended, but the fact that I was a newcomer didn't made me less than a fan than the ones that had been there from the very begining and sometimes it felt like I was looked upon as 'Ah poor baby, what do yo know'. Fortunately the bast majority of the peeps here were inteligent, sensible people that made me fall in love with the whole Oz concept even more.
Some of you may know what is going on at the Torchwood fandom. The last season killed one of the most loved characters in the series and people is mad about it. Not only for that, but for the way series creator, Russell T Davies has been expressing about the fans (‘only 9 packets’, ‘hysterical women’, ‘go watch Supernatural’). But I’m not going to rant about that. I mean, I’m part of the campaign to bring back Ianto Jones sending coffee, letters, emails to Wales, and I’m very proud to be part of that, but this is not about that.
But what I want to complain about is the lack of respect between fandoms.
I’ve read somewhere some very sad critics towards Torchwood fandom. Like we fans were only a bunch of girls, that the fanfiction lacks of quality, that we are hysterical…
What I want to say is: RESPECT PEOPLE!
My most important fandom is Oz. I love the show, I love the peeps, I love the fanfiction, I love everything about it. But I also love the Torchwood fandom. But I go to each fandom with different expectations. I have to, one is an hyper realistic prison drama show, the other is a Sci Fi action one. There is no way you can’t compare both shows in a fair way.
Most of us have two or three fandoms. Some like some things I’m not inclined to. But that doesn’t mean I have any right to bash against that. Why it is that every fandom holds itself as better as every other? For example (*and I’m sorry to use you as an example sweetie*)
numenora loves LOTR. I like it, but is not my fandom. But nothing in the world gives me the right to attack her likes just because they are somewhat different than mine.
I don’t like ‘Twilight’, I find it way to far fetched from my conception of a vampire. That’s why I have not read any of the fanfiction. I guess there has to be some pretty good stories and some others that cracktastic! doesn’t begin to cover. AS IN ANY OTHER FANDOM. I know that the majority of that particular fandom is much younger than other fans in other fandoms, but that doesn’t mean that their fiction is bad.
We're a family, people, let's act like it. We should always act like the ambassador of our respective fandom, not get up on our soapbox preaching why our fandom is better than everybody else’s.
We come here, to our respective fandoms as a way to have some relief, distraction, escape of real life. So why we must bash against each other because we like different things? So yeah, some of us like RPS, some of us don’t. Some of us like bandom, some of us don’t. Some of us like slash, some of us don’t. So why would we have an elitist attitude against others? To compare the one to the other is as stupid as it would be for me read a ‘Torchwood’ fanfic expecting it to be similar or better in the same way as a ‘Oz’ fic would.
And that stupid misconception that older writers means better writing. I’ve read some pretty good pieces of people at least 6 years younger than me (and I'm 24) and even more that write way better than I do. And I don’t mean it because they write in English, a language that is certainly not my own, I mean it in Spanish (my mother tongue), because, yeah, there are fics in other languages.
Fandoms should be a place to be happier and have fun. A place where all that is wrong with the world can be discussed an criticized, simple to enjoy and dream.
ETA: 'cause michele659 made an excellent point and that acutually happen to me when I first came to Oz. I came to this fandom in December of 2007, more than 4 years after this particular show ended, but the fact that I was a newcomer didn't made me less than a fan than the ones that had been there from the very begining and sometimes it felt like I was looked upon as 'Ah poor baby, what do yo know'. Fortunately the bast majority of the peeps here were inteligent, sensible people that made me fall in love with the whole Oz concept even more.